Gentle Boy
by Erika Extasy
Summary: Since the incident in the oil platform, Iori has been plagued with nightmares. Takeru notices him crying out in his sleep one night, and feels possessed to try to help the beautiful boy thrashing in the sand. Rated M for shota.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any character here in. This is a work done purely for fun with no though of profit,

I watched him sleeping on the beach beside me, lightly snoring and using Armadillomon as a pillow, as uncomfortable as it looked. Patamon shifted beside me, stirring me from the semi-trance I was in. He was gently flapping his wings in his sleep, a sign that, I'd learned, meant he was dreaming. A quick glance across the beach revealed that all of the digidestined, aside from me, were still in a deep sleep, reclining on their respective digimon partners. A cold breeze swept across the beach, and when I turned my view back towards him, I saw Iori shivering, despite the blanket on top of him. I stood, and unwrapped the blanket from myself, and draped it over Iori, tucking it around him the best I could. As I was crouching beside him, I noticed how him mumbling frantically, and how much he was furrowing his brow. Ever since the day we got stuck underwater in the oil platform, Iori had been different. He was still the kind and gentle boy he had always been, but he was even more docile. I was like he was scared all the time, always looking over his shoulder, and perpetually jumpy. I didn't think any of the others had noticed, but I sure did. I noticed a lot about Iori. And, when he starting crying out, I noticed he was shaking this time, not from the cold, but from fear. With the wind picking up again, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and started to slide under the blankets next to Iori. I pulled him close to me. He struggled a little at first, but then snuggled close to me, and stopped shaking and crying out. I had long since woken up, but between the warmth of Iori and the blankets, my eyes became heavy once more, and I drifted back to sleep.

As usual, Iori woke before anyone else, and gently shook me awake, as well.

"Why did you sleep next to me, Takeru?" Iori asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"Well, at first you were shivering, so I put my blanket over you. Then you started crying out and moaning in your sleep. But you stopped when I laid down beside you."

"Thank you, Takeru. I was dreaming. Well, i guess it was a nightmare, really"

"You're safe now, Iori." I clasped Iori's hand in mine. "You're awake and safe. And probably hungry, how about some breakfast?"

Iori nodded in agreement and stood up, following me along the beach to find driftwood for a fire. It wasn't long before we each had an armload of wood and were walking back up the beach towards the camp. Iori and I were chuckling to one another about our adventures in the digiworld when my curiosity got the better of me, and I asked him about his dream. He stopped and stared out at the ocean before answering. Iori dropped the driftwood and sat down in the sand, he asked me to have a seat next to him. He told me it was the same ocean dream he'd always had, only worse. In his dream we were all stuck at the bottom of the ocean, and Armadillomon couldn't digivolve into Submarimon, no matter how much he tried. Iori was helpless as the rest of us ran out of air and floated away. He told me that as soon as Armadillomon floated away, he woke up and found me next to him. When he finished his tale, I noticed he was sobbing. I closed the distance between the two of us, and put my arm around him. I expected him to lean into me, but he threw himself onto me,knocking us both backwards into the sand, and began to all-out cry into my chest.

"Oh, Takeru, I was so scared. It was just like when we were in that oil platform."

"No it wasn't, Iori." I reassured him, "That time you saved all of us."

"But what about when the day comes when I'm not able to save you all!?"

"That day is never going to come, Iori, there will never come a day when the five of us will ever be beaten!"

"Do you promise, Takeru?" Iori asked. There was a look in his eyes, like his entire world was riding on my answer. Iori had always been a sensitive and honest kid, so much so that he could come across as uptight. Even so, I had only seen him show such a display of emotion once before: the day his nightmare came to life in the oil platform when we were looking for the Digiegg of Reliability and Metal Seadramon attacked, leaving under the water. He sat sobbing, scared out of his mind until we sent him ashore to find Joe. But that day stuck with Iori more than any of us would have guessed. It embodied all of his fear and uncertainty about being in the digital world. I wondered how many times he had cried out in the night, before, and none of us had been awake to hear, when none of us had been awake to comfort him. With that thought in my mind, I threw my arms around Iori and pulled him tightly against me and swore to him that I would never let anything happen to the five of us.

Iori's sobs slowly came to a halt, and he pulled his face from my chest, leaving, in its place, a big wet spot from his tears. He wiped his eyes on his sleeves, and looked up at me, his frown replaced by a small, gentle smile. It was a gentle curve at the corners of his mouth. Barely noticeable, but to me, it shined like a ray of sunlight through the clouds. His smile was a leaf, drifting lazily down a small brook, barely pushed along by the placid current. It was a summer wind that blew tamely through the leaves of a tree. It was the glow of the stars, and it was hard to take my eyes off of it. He looked into my eyes for another few moments before stretching up and kissing me lightly on the cheek. His smile grew for a second before his face flushed in embarrassment and he crawled off of my and stood, looking out towards the ocean.

"Thank you, Takeru. Thank you so much." He whispered, not turning around. He sounded like he was on the verge of crying again, but when he turned around again, his eyes shown with happiness, rather than fear. "You're my best friend, Takeru. I've never had a best friend before."

We arrived back at camp before any of the others had woken up, including our partner digimon. We collected all the firewood we needed, but we were still missing a crucial element for breakfast: the breakfast, itself. Iori and I agreed that I would make the fire while he and Submarimon caught some fish. As I began to make a small teepee from the wood, I saw Iori gently shaking Armadillomon, waking him as tenderly as possible. I wondered if the boy had ever had a malicious thought even cross his mind. Then it occurred to me how much this experience in the digital world must actually be effecting him. This soft, compassionate boy was thrown into a broken world, and forced to constantly fight; not only to survive, but to save an entire world. He had been witness to terrible things, brutal treatment and enslavement of innocent digimon from a master crueler than god. Even worse, battle had been forced upon him, leaving him no choice but to harm to keep from being harmed. When I really thought about it, I wondered why I hadn't notice Iori's underlying melancholy long before I did. My heart broke for him. But no matter what the Emperor threw in Iori's direction, he was never able to break Iori's spirit. He could never harden the heart of this beautiful boy.

Armadillomon digivolved into Submarimon, and Iori entered into the looking glass area on his back. I watched them until they dove out of sight, then turned to my backpack to dig out a spiral notebook I brought along for kindling. I could have just as easily woken Daisuke and Veemon up, and Flamedramon would have had it blazing in a digisecond, but I rather enjoyed the quiet of the beach. Truth be told, I was also hoping to have another moment of peace between Iori and myself before the others woke up. Not that I minded the others, they were all my best friends, but since Iori cried to me earlier that morning, I felt like I had so much left to say to him, I felt like I needed to get to know him better. Daisuke always tended to treat him like a kid, so I was the only real guy friend he had, and, even though he got along well enough with Miyako and Hikari, I knew he got tired of just hanging out with the girls. Plus, he told me I was the first best friend he'd ever had, it gave me quite a title to live up to.

The kindling beneath the driftwood caught fire quickly, with the smell of sulfur rising in the air. I tossed the match stick into the burning kindling and blew lightly into the fire, fanning the flames up, higher and into the pile of wood. Slowly, but surely, the wood began to catch, and the flames started to rise higher and higher. I heard the ocean rise up behind me, and turned to see Submarimon launch up onto the sand with five large fish pierced onto his harpoon nose. A grin spread across my face as I saw the morning's catch, and grew a little larger when I saw Iori slide down from Submarimon's back. When he noticed, a light shading of pink tinged his cheeks and he responded with a faint smile of his own. I'd come to love that smile throughout the events of the morning. I'd come to love Iori that morning as well, he'd become my best friend as well. I retrieved a tarp from my backpack and jogged over to Iori and Submarimon, and laid it out under Submarimon's harpoon, and as he de-digivolved back to Armadillomon, the fish fell cleanly onto the tarp, waiting to be cooked over the fire. Iori ran up to put more wood on the fire while I carefully drug the tarp across the sand, and Armadillomon used his claws to sharpen the ends of some sticks into points to roast the fish. Soon after Iori and I put our fish over the fire, the smell wafted around the camp, and, of course, Daisuke was the first that it woke up. But, shortly after, one-by-one, hunger overcame sleep and the stomachs of our fellow digidestined, and their digimon partners, including Patamon, and they gathered around the fire. The rest of the group marveled at the size of the fish Iori had caught, and their praise cause his cheeks to, once again, tint a slight shade of pink. When everyone had finished cooking their fish, we all split them right down the middle and gave a half of the fish to our digimon, as was the custom anytime we ate: half for us, half for them, and sometimes, some for us, most for them. We said our "good mornings" and laugh and joke around the fire with our friends and our breakfast. It was truly a wonderful morning in the digital world; children and digimon laughing and eating together, fellowshipping, and generally enjoying one another's company. But in the midst of all our jokes and stories, there was a heavy thought on my mind. My thoughts continued to drift back to earlier that morning, just after sunrise, when Iori was washing my shirt and chest in his tears. Afterwards, he had seemed so much happier, but I knew that his nightmare was, most likely, still on his mind. And, after my realization of what Iori must be going through on a daily bases, I was truly concerned for my friend. I thought it would be a good idea for him to take the day off, but I knew he would never agree to it. So, when he left the circle to relieve himself behind the bushes, I quickly, and quietly called the others in close. I gave them a brief, and completely void of detail, summary of the morning and my concerns for Iori's feelings. I pitched to them my idea of splitting up to destroy control spires; and while the three of them would actually be destroying some spires, I'd take Iori away from the spires and the fighting. If only for a day, I would give Iori a day of carefree relaxation. I sent Koushiro an email asking for the best places to relax and sight see around the area. I closed my D-terminal and slid it back in my pocket as Iori was returning to the group, taking a different seat, next to me.

After we finished gathering up our blankets and supplies, and storing them away in our packs, I relayed my plan to everyone, once again. Iori was standing adjacent to me, his mouth hanging open in anticipation at my words. When Iori was clear on the plan, as I had told everyone else previously, we all broke from our huddle and started to walk in separate directions. Daisuke, Miyako, and Hikari started North East; while Iori and I walked parallel to the beach, heading west towards the mountains. I stopped our group for a moment so Patamon could armor-digivolve to Pegasusmon to make our journey a lot faster. Iori pulled his blanket from his pack, and placed Upamon, who had de-digivolved to save energy, in the pack so he would be safest in flight. He placed the blanket on Pegasusmon's back, and we climbed on. I took the front, and Iori sat behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. My face flushed at his touch, and I was glad he couldn't see it. Pegasusmon took flight and climbed quickly into the sky, causing Iori to hug against my back tightly. Feeling his body pressed against my set my skin on fire. Even through both our clothes, I could feel his warmth and it send a heat radiance throughout my body. As Pegasusmon leveled his flight path, my mind wandered to the feeling in the pit of my stomach; what did it mean? The only other person that ever gave me that feeling was Hikari, back when we were kids. That feeling had long since disappeared. She remained my best friend, through out the years, but that was just it: she had become my best friend, my companion, my sister, and my fellow digidestined, but not my girlfriend. Did this mean I liked Iori? It had never occurred to me; I never liked boys, at least not until now. I mean, I had glanced at Daisuke in gym before, but I didn't think anything of it; I didn't like Daisuke in that way. But Iori? Iori was cute, now that I thought about it. And I had come to really care for the boy, but could I really like him? I supposed I would find out soon enough.

"...Keru! TAKERU!" Iori yelled behind me.

"What?" He surprised me so much I accidentally kicked Pegasusmon and caused him to veer downwards and loudly voice his complaint. I quickly and profusely apologized, then turned my attention back to Iori. "I'm sorry, Iori, I was in...deep thought."

"I said, 'You're D-terminal went off.'"

"Oh, thanks, Iori. It's probably Koushiro."

My guess was correct, Koushiro sent me a small list of local paradises and their coordinates. But Iori, always the perceptive one, caught on quick. He knew that there were no control spires in our direction, and began to ask what we were really doing. I told him that he would find out soon enough and turned to give him a sincere smile. He looked into my eyes, before quickly averting his gaze and looking back, with that gentle smile gracing his mouth again. But when I saw his smile that time, it was different; this time, it sent a slight shiver down my spine and cause that feeling to return to the pit of my stomach. For the first time, I noticed how Iori's forest-green eyes shined when he smiled like that. Gentle eyes for a gentle smile. This time, however, I couldn't turn my face fast enough to prevent him from seeing the blush race across my cheeks. I quickly turned around to face our destination, and leaned down to whisper our destination into Pegasusmon's ear. Iori only giggled behind me. I had head him laugh before, but I had never heard him giggle like that. Maybe I was thinking way too much into it.

Pegasusmon touched down at the base of a mountain with steam rising all around. Iori asked me why we had stopped there when we dismounted. In response, I opened my pack, and dug out two towels from under the blanket, and tossed one in Iori's direction. He still looked at me questionably, so I thought it best to tell him everything.

"Iori," I began, "What happened this morning really got me thinking, and watching you," Iori gave me a puzzled look when I said I was watching him. "You're a very gentle boy, Iori. I've that since i first met you in our apartment complex. But I never thought about how that might change how the digital world effected you. You're very kind and sensitive, Iori, and I know what the fighting does to a kid like that."

Iori's expression drastically changed when I said that. He went from anxiously waiting to solemn with the droop of a brow.

"After all,"I continued, "Even I got to explore the digital world for a little while before the fighting started. You got thrown into the mix right away, and the Digimon Emperor is more vulgar and violent of a villain than we faced for a long time. But you've had to watch him ruthlessly abuse digimon and even make them fight one another, as if he were Caesar in the Roman coliseum. In your short time here, you've experienced horrors beyond what any child should. And it's force you to react with violence, simply to survive, and-"

Iori cut me off there by throwing his arms around me as he started sobbing, once again. I returned his embrace, and gently rubbed his back in an effort to comfort him.

"So I decided that today was your day off, Iori. That's why I brought us here, to the hot springs. You and I are going to spend the day relaxing, and doing whatever you feel like doing."

"But, Takeru," Iori argued, in between sobs, "We don't have time for me to take a day off just because I'm having a bad dream, no one else is-"

"Shush, Iori. You can't compare yourself to any of the rest of us. You have an empathy that far surpasses any of our own. The digiworld is full of pain now, I can't imagine what it's doing to you. And it's non-negotiable, anyway; I talked it over with everyone at the camp earlier, and decided that I was going to to take care of you today. No fighting, no sadness, just you, me, and our digimon, and nice day together."

"Wait, when did you talk to everyone else? It couldn't have been right before we left."

"It was when you were having private time with the bushes." I said it in a way that I knew would make him blush again; Iori was very modest, and it embarrassed him to talk about it. He replied with a short Oh, and looked down. I chuckled at his reaction as I took his arm and led him to a patch of bushes where we could change. Iori understood why I'd given him the towel when I pulled my shirt over my head. He followed in suit and soon we walked out of the bushes covered from the waist down, with a towel, carrying our clothes. I let my clothes fall to the ground, with my towel following suit, and hurried to dip into the hot spring. I expected Iori to be right behind me, but I turned to see him carefully folding his clothes, and placing them on a rock. I smiled at him as he walked towards the spring. He hesitated at the edge, but didn't say anything.I looked at him questioningly until his face began to turn a deep red, and I understood he didn't want me looking while he got in. I quickly turned my head, and waited until I felt the water stir beside me to turn back and face, Iori. He was smiling sheepishly, and his cheeks were only beginning to fade. Patamon and Armadillomon settled in to float in the spring with us.

"Takeru, a moment ago, you said exactly how I felt, how did you know so well?" Iori asked, looking at me intently with his deep, green eyes. I thought for a minute I'd be lost in them.

"I remember what it's like to be so young in such a place. In our first battle with Devimon, Angemon gave his life to defeat him, and I thought I'd never see him again. I was terrified. The digital world can be a scary place, especially if you can't talk to anyone about it. I was so much younger than everyone else that I thought they'd think I was a crybaby, so I rarely told anyone how scared I really was. But you can always talk to me about it, Iori, I know how you feel. I know how unfair it seems. I know how much it hurts seeing our friends hurt in these battles."

"Sometimes I think," Iori's breath hitched in his throat, and I realized he was about to start to cry again. I reached across the small distance between us and took his hand in mine. "Sometimes I think about what would happen if I lost Armadillomon in a fight. I don't know what I'd do, Takeru! I love Armadillomon, and I can't bear to think about losing him." Iori's speech was getting harder to understand, and tears we starting to fall down his cheeks. "

"I've always liked you, Takeru, you've always listened to me, and didn't write me off as a child. Even before this morning, I thought of you as my best friend. Well, a couple nights ago, I had a nightmare that Ken captured you. We all looked and looked and looked, but we couldn't find any trace of you. I remember running and yelling your name, but I just couldn't find you. I woke up and cried for an hour until I could get back to sleep. Even though I saw you sleeping, it wasn't enough. I wanted to wake you up, to make sure you were okay, I wanted to hold you-" Iori noticeably winced as the last word slipped out. And immediately following, he started crying heavily, as if those two slipped words opened the floodgates. I grabbed him beneath the arms and pulled him up onto my lap. I thanked preventive thought for thinking to tuck myself between my legs incase my body reacted to the water, or something else, and Iori happened to brush me. I hugged him tightly to my chest and told him that I was there. That there was nothing for him to be ashamed of, because I was scared of losing him too, and I wanted to hold him too. When my words sunk in, Iori's crying lightened to broken sobs, and he looked up at me.

"Do you really mean that, Takeru? Are you scared of losing me? Did you really want to hold me too?"

"Yes to all three of those." I smiled down at him.

"So...so you don't think I'm weird now? You still want to be my friend?"

"Iori, think about it. We're both naked and I'm holding you in my lap, in a hot spring to stop you from crying."

It took a moment for my words to sink in, once again. But this time, when they did, both of us realized exactly what was happening and both turned redder that Myotismon's Crimson Lightening. He tried to slide off my lap, but I held him in place, and assured him that it was alright."

"You..you really do care for me, don't you, Takeru? You really care!"

"Yes, Iori, I guess I really do. I guess I love you." I said, leaning down to give Iori a kiss,


	2. Chapter 2

It took a moment for realization to wash over Iori's face, and in that moment, I reveled in the warmth of his lips pressing gently against mine. Well, it was more accurate to say my lips pressing against his, because he wasn't kissing back, but I didn't care. When the situation sunk into Iori he gently pulled back from the kiss and looked me in the eyes questioningly. I could only smile down at him in response. We were still in the hot spring, and Iori was still sitting in my lap. He made no move to get off of me as he was staring, so I took that as I good sign. At least he wasn't freaking out on me. His expression changed from a look of bewilderment to the gentle smile I had grown to love, to a wide grin. I had never seen Iori smile so broadly. He looked into my eyes a moment longer before sliding off my lap and returning to his seat beside me, leaving a little less space between us than before. He snaked his hand down to grasp mine and interlocked our fingers. He still didn't speak a word, just sat there with that goofy smile plastered on his face. It was so peaceful that I, also, had no wish to break the silence. So I just sat, holding Iori's hand, and sneaking glances at his smile. In truth, Iori had gotten off my lap just in time, because between the heat of the water, the kiss, and Iori's skin, I couldn't keep myself tucked any longer, and my erection sprang up with pride. I breathed a mixed sigh of pleasure and relief; if Iori had still been sitting on me, this would probably had turned a priceless situation into quite an awkward one.

Almost and hour passed with us holding hands in the spring, before Iori claimed he was pruning and, as much as he loved prune juice, he was ready to move on to another relaxing activity. Iori wasn't as shy getting out as he was getting in. We climbed out of the spring, side by side, and started over towards our clothes, not bothering to wrap ourselves in our towels. I tried to sneak a glance at Iori's unclothed body, but only succeeded in catching him trying to sneak a peak at mine. When we knew we were caught, we quickly tried to avert our gazes upwards, but made eye contact, and both began to flush deeply. When we reached our respective bushes, and began toweling off I both cursed slightly and cried out in silent joy. While I didn't get a chance to satiate my voyeurism, I did catch Iori attempting to satiate his, and I knew that there would be time for that later. I giggled quietly to myself; I had no idea Iori even thought about things like that yet. I'd always thought he acted older than he was, but now I knew his hormones did too.

"What's so funny, Takeru?" Iori asked, apparently overhearing my stifled laughter. I thought about dancing around the question, but decided to poke a little fun.

"Oh nothing, just thinking about the look on your face when you were caught."

"What do you mean when I was cau-" He trailed off, realizing what I meant, and his face became Crimson Lightening again. "You were trying to look too, Takeru!" His voice was shaky, and he sounded like he could start crying again at any moment.

"Yea, but it's expected from someone my age, I guess you're just a dirty little boy, Iori. And worse yet, you just admitted it." If the smile wasn't obvious in my voice, it was plastered on my face from ear to ear.

"Takeruuuuu! I'm not dirty! I just. I just." Iori began to sniffle lightly. Even though I was still only in boxers, I crossed the bushes' privacy fence and pulled him into an embrace, telling him that I was really only joking, and that I knew he wasn't dirty or anything like that. He returned my hug, and I realized that he hadn't had a chance to dress at all yet. I let go of my naked friend and stepped back into my part of the bushes. When he thought I wasn't looking, he bent down to put on his boxers, and I whistled provocatively, almost causing him to fall in the grass. I choked back more laughter and apologized when he started yelling about respecting his privacy.

When we were both fully dressed again, we packed our towels away, and Iori packed Armadillomon, now Upamon again, away as well. I had Patamon armor-digivolve into Pegasusmon, and we, once again, took to the sky. I felt the same rush of excitement, and blood, when Iori hugged me from behind on the ascent. Pegasusmon flew low above the treeline so we could scan the area for the strange vending machines that seemed to be scattered throughout the digital world. The dip, and excitement, in the hot spring had left me parched, and quite hungry. Even though Iori had said nothing about it, I was sure he was hungry too, and as for the digimon, they were always hungry, so I thought it the best course of action. We could buy a small feast from the vending machine, and have a nice picnic, continuing Iori's day off. Iori loosened his grip on my waist before unclasping his hand altogether. He laid his hands to rest, innocently, on my thighs; it sent a warmth surging through my body, starting at the contact point of my thighs and radiating throughout my entire being. It was a warmth that forced a grin to my lips. Pegasusmon spotted a group of vending machines below us, much too soon for my personal liking, and started to circle in for a place to land. He brought us down on the edge of a large clearing, with the machines resting in the shade of the border of trees. When we dismounted Pegasusmon, Iori released Upamon from his back pack, and Pegasusmon reverted back to Patamon. The four of us walked (well, Iori and I walked, and our digimon rode) over to the line of machines. Our mouths dropped open when saw the variety of food and drink within the machines; there was any and every kind of junk food one could ever want. We fed a small mint into the machines and came away with chocolate covered rice balls, chocolate bars, black licorice, cheese and crackers, caramel coconut candies, soda, juice, mineral water and a list of other goodies.

We made our way into the clearing about 500 meters until we came upon a lone tree, more than giving off enough shade to lounge under. Mine and Iori's hands were completely full, as well as what little space was left in our backpacks, so we relied on Patamon and Upamon to spread our picnic blanket. To be small creatures with no thumbs, and one with no hands at all, the did an exemplary job. Iori crouched down to place all of the food he was carrying in a pile on the blanket, then took the food from my arms, piece by piece, and set it out in places. He remembered what each of us wanted from the vending machines, and didn't even have to ask once whose food was whose. I was happy to notice he put his food down right beside mine, and our digimon's to either side. I let my pack slide from my shoulders and began to shell out the drinks. We each had a can of our preferred soda and a pouch of juice for lunch, and multiple bottle of water for the rest of our trip. I usually never thought to buy extra drinks from the machines, always assuming I wouldn't need anymore, and I was often wrong. But Iori did proverbially inherit the crest of reliability from Jyou, so it didn't come as much of a surprise when he insisted we buy a few bottle of water each, for the rest of the day. I looked around the clearing as I took my seat beside Iori, who was already unwrapping all of Upamon's food for him. The wind blew a light pattern across the grass of the clearing, and made a gentle tune of the rustling leaves above. It just before midday, judging by the sun's position slightly adjacent of directly above us, and the tree provided us with just enough shade to keep it from beaming down on us. There wasn't a dark spire within sight in any direction of us, and from our little point in the digiverse, the Digimon Emperor didn't even exist, which I'm sure took a great load from Iori's mind. I had promised him a stress and worry free day, and I was going to try my damnedest to keep that promise. And, aside from, perhaps, a small amount of sexual stress, I was sure I was doing a good job of it. I joined Iori, and began to unwrap all of Patamon's food, and opening his pouch of juice. To our surprise, both Patamon, and Upamon, showed an amazing amount of restraint. The two of them waited, not only until all of their food was unwrapped, but also until Iori and I had opened our first courses before giving into their, almost feral, hunger and devouring the bounty we had placed before them. Iori reached for a can of soda, but I smacked at his hand, and told him that he had a pouch of juice to drink before he could open his soda. Iori was a very disciplined child, and he never whined about anything; Daisuke whined far more than Iori ever did. But he whined a little in protest when I told him he had to drink his juice first. It may have been the fact that he never complained about anything, or maybe it was the way he was looking up at me with his gorgeous green eyes, but he turned my steel resolve into putty, and I agreed I wouldn't tell his grandpa that he didn't drink prune juice with his lunch. I decided we'd both have our just desserts, so to speak, and we cracked open the cans of soda at the same time and took a long swig from the cans. The cool soda was infinitely refreshing on such a sunny day, and even though it had been cool enough to soak in the hot spring earlier, the temperature had climbed so drastically that, even in the shade, a thin layer of sweat was already starting to glimmer on the both of us. Iori let out a refreshed sigh , and set his can of soda beside him, before taking a huge bite from a chocolate covered rice ball. It surprised me to see the mannerly Iori display such questionable manners while eating, but I only took it as a sign of how comfortable he was getting around me. Not to be outdone, I began attacking my packet of cheese crackers, and soon there was no difference between our mannerisms and our digimons' We were talking with our mouths full, laughing and almost spitting food, and all around making pigs out of ourselves. This was a side of Iori I had never seen. His usual polite, cool, and collected attitude was replaced with a completely carefree demeanor, and, for a while, we both forgot we were digidestined and escaped into the guise of two normal boys enjoying a summer day together. When we finished our banquet, there wasn't a single crumb left. Between us and the digimon, I was mildly surprised there was even any wrappers left. We began to pick up the trash we had accumulated and put it in my pack when Iori tried, and failed, to stifle a yawn. That caused me to yawn, which, in turn, made Upamon and Patamon yawn, which made Iori yawn once more, and soon we were just a circle of over stuffed, yawning youngsters and there wasn't much that sounded better, at that moment, than a nap. Except, that is, a nap with Iori. Iori removed our other blanket from his pack, and rolled it up to make a pillow for the both of us. I lie down on the outside edge of the blanket, and Iori, next to me, leaving a surprising, and disappointing, amount of space between the two of us. Next to him, Upamon and Patamon were already cuddled up together snoozing. After a couple minutes, when I wasn't sure Iori was planning on moving, I took him by the arm and gently tugged, silently asking him to move in closer. He obliged me and scoot in right against me. Instead of the pillow roll he made, he lie on his right side, and rested his head on my shoulder, looking up into my face. I draped my arm down, across his lithe body and my hand came to rest on his hip. I looked down into his eyes, and the forest met the ocean and made a terrain of complete, mutual adoration. I smiled down at him, and him up at me.

"Takeru, did you mean it?" He half asked, half yawned.

"Did I mean what, Iori?"

"Earlier, you said that you guessed you loved me."

"Well, it was then." I said as coldly as I could muster. Iori must have heard my tone, because his face went rigid, and his eyes took on a shine. But, before he could tear up, I continued, "I did guess I loved you then. But now, now I know I love you, Iori. You're kind and gentle, sincere and funny." And just for a little fun, I added, "And you're absolutely cute as a button." That last part caused a reaction I expected, and one I didn't. Of course, it caused him to blush, and I decided that it was close to the hundredth time I'd made him blush that day, and that I wasn't going to stop, because he was, simply, too cute when he was blushing. But also, Iori stretched his neck up, and kissed me square on the lips. I pressed my lips back, against his, and when he started to pull away, my hand raced from his hip to the back of his head and stopped him. It surprised him, and he struggled at first, but gave into the pleasure

and relaxed back into the kiss. I decided to take a small chance and deepen the kiss. My tongue escaped to trace itself along his bottom lip, and when he didn't admit its entrance, I tenderly prodded between his lips with it until he understood, and parted them as well. He was sloppy and inexperienced, I knew that I was his first real kiss, and that made my heart soar to new, undiscovered heights. Admittedly, I was none too experienced myself, but I had practiced before, if only with Yamato after a lot of shameless begging on my part. Soon, the passion of the kiss grew more, and I had flipped Iori over, and laid on top of him, savagely ravaging his sweet mouth. Iori began to moan into mouth, wordlessly begging for me not to stop. I wasn't sure if I could have stopped, so I was thankful he was enjoying it as much as I was. His hands shot up and tangled themselves in my hair, forcing the kiss to a lip bruising fire of passion and love. I had only kissed one other person, for real, and that had been Hikari about a year back. But that kiss was infinitely out shined by the current display I was putting on with Iori. If nothing else, Iori was a quick learner, and soon our tongues were battling in an erotic dance of dominance. There came a point in the kiss where I couldn't tell whose mouth our tongues were currently in, nor did I really care. A guttural growl came from Iori's throat, and, with all his might, he roughly pushed me off of him and back onto my back beside him. Without missing a beat, Iori had taken my place on top, and I was the one being ravaged now. He kissed me with such a hunger that caused static in the air around us. I lost track of any amount of time while Iori and I were locked together. After what seemed like a blissful eternity, Iori broke the kiss, and sat up on my stomach. His eyes were half lidded, and glazed over with a feral hunger that I didn't know he was capable of. He licked his lips, and broke a string of saliva that had still joined us. If it had been up to me, I would have taken Iori then and there, and made him mine. But almost as soon as he sat up on me, he crashed down onto the blanket beside me, and returned to his pre-makeout position, except that he had one leg up,and draped over me, his knee almost directly on my crotch. I wasn't sure if he was doing it on purpose but, after that growl, and the hunger in his eyes, it would not have surprised me. I watched his face as his eyes slowly fell closed, and his face lost any tension in it, and became supple and babylike; the kid was all worn out. Soon after, my eyes became heavy as well, and right before I let them close, I craned my neck down to kiss Iori on the forehead. He smiled in his sleep, and I chased after him into dreamland.


	3. Chapter 3

I sat in the dining room of my apartment, anxiously awaiting a call at the door. It had been few hours since all of us had left the digital world and gone our separate ways for the night. Iori and I hadn't told any of the others about our day together, he wasn't ready to let anyone know. In fact, he was the company I was waiting on. When we woke up from our nap under the tree, we had packed away our things and walked, hand in hand, back to the area we were supposed to meet the others. Iori was as happy as I had ever seen him when he was holding onto my hand. He would continuously twist and play with my fingers and switch between swinging our arms, and walking right by my side. It made me happy as well, seeing my gentle, beautiful boy smiling for such a long period of time. It seemed that his nightmare had been completely forgotten. When we heard the laughing voices of the others, we separated. Iori and I stuck close together as we listened to Daisuke relay how he, single-handedly, destroyed most of the spires, and defeated one of the Emperor's digimon slaves. We took the eyerolling from the others as a sign that his story wasn't completely accurate, and everyone, save for Daisuke, burst out laughing. Daisuke didn't get the joke, and that made it all the more funny. As we all arrived back in the computer lab at school, I pulled Iori to the side and asked him if he'd like to stay over at my place tonight. We lived in the same apartment complex, so I doubted his mother would mind. I knew mine, wouldn't, and even if she did, she was out of town for the rest of the week.

My nerves were too shot to sit around any longer, so I got up to make sure that everything was all set up for my night with Iori. I walked once around the living room before I realized that I didn't have anything to make sure of; i hadn't planned a single thing. All I had been thinking about was spending more time with Iori. I had no idea what we were going to do when he go here, but it didn't matter as long as he was here. I continued to pace around the room until I heard a soft knock at the door; if I had been doing at all, I wouldn't have heard it. I ran to the door and took a second to compose myself before I opened it to greet Iori, but I couldn't suppress the grin on my face. I opened the door to find Iori standing in the way, with the same gentle smile gracing his features, holding a small overnight bag with in front of him.

"Hi Takeru, it's good to see you again." He said in greeting.

"Hey Iori, come on in." I moved to the side and ushered Iori in, closing the door behind us. I offered him something to drink, and told him he could put his things in my room. I poured the two of us a glass of cranberry juice and walked to the living room, taking a seat on the couch; soon after, Iori returned and took a seat on the cushion next to me. It seemed strangely quiet with our digimon around, but they had chosen to stay in the digital world and regain their strength, even though Armadillomon and Patamon had take the day off along with us. It was just as well, having them around if things got a little intimate might be kind of awkward. Color rose to my cheeks at the thought; I brushed it from my mind and asked Iori if there was anything he wanted to do, admitting that I really didn't plan anything for the night. He said that he was hoping that I could help him with his math homework. I knew that Iori probably didn't need any help, but was happy that he asked. He hurried to his overnight bag to get his homework, and rushed back in to sit next to me. He sat his notebook on the coffee table, and my earlier suspicions were confirmed as I watched him wildly scribble, not stopping once to ask for help. Every few minutes, he'd look over to see if I was still watching (of course I was) and smile at me. He asked if I was bored once or twice, but I assured him that I was having a good time just enjoying his company.

When Iori had finished his homework, we were both rather hungry, so I ordered a pizza for delivery. While we waited, we sat on the couch and talked about school, among other things. Soon the conversation steered to the digital world, and we began reminiscing on all the times we'd had so far. He told me how he felt the first time he picked up the digiegg of knowledge, and how it had felt when Armadillomon first became Digmon. and he told me how terrified he had been, facing all the monster digimon, and how he had looked to me, and saw my courage and it had made him less afraid. I admitted to him that I had been afraid nearly every encounter, myself, but I knew I had to fight, so I just put it out of my mind. He asked me if I had been so scared back when I was a kid in digiworld, so I told him of the time we faced Piedmon. How he had turned everyone but me and Hikari into keychains, and how terrified I'd been when we were climbing the rope, trying to escape, but had refused to let Hikari know. I told him of my heart stopping, momentarily when Piedmon cut the rope, and Hikari and I started falling. By this point, Iori was so engrossed in my story that his mouth stood open, slightly, in anticipation, and his hand had found its way to grasp mine. He mindlessly played with my fingers, gently twisting the end of one before moving on to the next. His eyes were wide, and shining, the forest green shimmering in anticipation at the rest of my story. I paused the story, for a moment, to lean down and kiss him on the cheek. His free hand reached up to touch the point I had kissed, and I smiled, continuing my story. I told him how I thought that it was over for me; I thought that nothing could save me from the fall, until I remembered that I had the keychain that Yamato had been made into. While I was falling, I reached around to my pack, to pull Yamato into my hand. When I looked at his keychain I heard his voice, telling me to have faith in myself, that he knew I could do it, but it would do no good if I didn't know I could. I promised Yamato's keychain that I would have faith in myself, and that's when my crest began to glow. Iori's eyes grew even wider when I told him about Angemon digivolving to MagnaAngemon. His smile grew to a grin as I relayed how MagnaAngemon saved me and Hikari from what would have been a fatal fall. and kicked Piedmon to the curb before turning our friends back from keychains. I was about to tell him of the battle with Apocolymon when I heard the doorbell. Iori yipped in delight, practically shoved me off the couch and towards the door. I answered it with a smile and took the pizza from the delivery guy. I paid him for the pizza and gave him a large tip. I hated people that didn't tip delivery boys; they made abhorrent wages and relied on the kindness of people; boy did I not envy them. When he expressed his gratitude and left my doorway, I turned towards the dining room and saw that Iori was already sitting at the table, practically drooling at the smell of the pizza. I had ordered his choice of toppings; pepperoni, banana peppers and mushrooms. It had sounded a little odd to me, but I tried to keep an open mind to it; I knew Iori could be a strange boy, but I liked that about him. Today had make me realize I liked everything about him.

I poured the two of us a glass of soda to drink with our pizza, and sat across from him at the table. I opened the pizza box, asking Iori how many slices her wanted, and placing two slices on his plate. I took two slices for myself and began to munch. For a moment, I watched Iori eating his slice. He took small, easy bites and chewed each of them thoroughly. He noticed my stare and blushed, mumbling something about it being rude to stare. I chuckled and continued my pizza. Iori asked me what happened after we beat Piedmon, so I continued my earlier story. I told him of how Apocolymon had scattered our data, and we had to help one another reconfigure ourselves. Then I told him of our rushed departure from the digital world, and how we didn't know if we'd ever see our digimon again. Iori was almost finished with his second slice when he started yawning and his eyes began to droop. I looked at the clock, and it shown Nine O'clock. Even though Iori and I had spent the whole day resting, I was still pretty tired, and could tell that Iori was too. I gathered our plates and put them by the sink as Iori put the remainder of the pizza in the refrigerator. He followed me down the hall to my room and got his toothbrush. He left to brush his teeth and refresh himself before bed and I made up the bed. I thought about making Iori a pallet on the floor, but decided against it; I wanted him to sleep in the bed with me tonight. He returned, dressed in beige pajamas and looked at the floor, then to me with a questioning gaze. I heard his silent question and told him we has sleeping in my bed tonight. I left his blushing in the room as I left to get ready for bed. When I returned, Iori was already in bed, closest to the wall, and was laying on his side,his head propped up on his arm, watching me. When I reached to shit off the light, he stopped me. I figured he was scared of the dark, but he said he just wasn't ready to sleep yet; he wanted to stay up and talk, but he wanted to be able to see me. I thought I saw the trace of a quick smirk, but it was gone too fast for me to tell. I climbed in bed beside him and lay on my back. Iori flopped down on his back and scooted in close to me.

"Takeru, we kissed today," He said it so matter-of-factly, lacing his fingers with mine, "We kissed for a long time, do you remember?"

The recollection of our makeout session earlier made the corners of my mouth turn up into a wild grin. It also made something down below start to turn up, so I shook it out of my thoughts and answered Iori. "Of course I remember, Iori! What about it, though?"

"Oh, nothing I guess, I just liked it." The red was spreading madly across his cheeks again, and he moved in even closer to me. Then, almost as if he weren't sure he should say it, he added, "I like you, Takeru."

"I liked it too, Iori. A lot." Now my face was turning red, as well. "And I like you too. A lot." Iori stirred beside me and suddenly the blanket on top of us began to get really hot, and I was restless, my legs felt like they wanted to get up and run. Iori was practically burning up beside me; it became very hard to keep my shirt on. Iori didn't say anything else; he was still propped up on his hand, was staring at me with an strange look in his eyes. I'd seen it before, but I couldn't exactly place it. Then I remembered our time in the clearing today, he'd looked at me that same way. His eyes half lidded and seeping with an unnamed hunger. After I placed the look the heat became unbearable, and I had suddenly understood why Iori had insisted on leaving the lights on. I pushed him, making him fall over onto his back, earning a slight cry in confusion before I mounted him. I sat straddling his hips, looking down into his eyes for a sign of consent. For a moment, he looked like a deer in the headlights, I shifted and put a small amount of pressure on his nether regions, the hunger came back to those gentle eyes, and I attacked.

I crashed my mouth into his so hard that it hurt. Iori moaned slightly and instantly tangled his fingers in my hair. This time, when I traced his bottom lip with my tongue, he immediately opened his mouth, eager for me to ravage him just as I had done earlier. He let out another soft moan as my tongue probed into his mouth, exploring every nook and cranny, reveling in the taste of the young boy below me. Our tongues figuratively tied themselves into a know between us. Iori gathered his strength again to push me on my back and claim the top, but I was prepared for him this time. As soon as his hands touched my chest, I broke the kiss, and leaned back, causing him to lose his leverage. I grabbed his hands in mine, and shoved them down on the bed, above him. I gave him a semi-malicious grin before attacking his mouth again. He was still inexperienced and our teeth scraped together several times, but the sloppiness only made the kiss more passionate. Each time our teeth clacked, it reminded us that neither of us cared about one another's flaws; I like Iori exactly like he was, and I knew he felt the same.

I broke the kiss once more and sat up on Iori's abdomen. The scene I saw below me took my remaining breath away. Iori hadn't moved his arms, they were still sprawled on either side of his head. His face was flushed and he was panting, his tongue partly out of his mouth. I snaked my hands under his shirt, and stopped them on his stomach, eliciting a low moan from Iori. I kept my hands still, wordlessly waiting for his permission. Iori gave me a questioning -no, wait- a pleading look. The glaze of lust in his eyes drove a part of me wild, and I tore Iori's shirt off, almost pulling his head off in the process. He squeaked in slight embarrassment started to reach his hands to try and block my view of his perfect, porcelain skin. Once again, I intercepted his hands and held them out to his sides. He face glowed bright red as I drank in the glory of his torso. His skin was flawless and smooth, like a dolls; not a blemish anywhere in sight. I had no idea what I'd done to deserve this angel, this beautiful, gentle boy beneath me. Iori started to protest my staring, but his breath hitched when I leaned down to suck lightly at the skin of his neck. Careful not to leave any marks, (he was far too young to explain this to his mother) I nipped and licked at the sensitive skin. The sounds that were escaping from that perfect mouth almost made me melt. He mewled and gasped with every kiss and graze of the teeth. I swapped between nipping and blowing gently down the taught skin stretched across his delicate collarbone, drawing sharp moans and shivers from Iori. I lifted my head to look him in the eyes and ask if he wanted me to continue. Breathless, all he could do was nod his head. I caught his mouth for another deep, sloppy kiss before I continued my personal, private tour of his body. Like an artist touching up a masterpiece, I licked and teased my way down Iori's chest. I was glad my mother was out, for when I grazed Iori's nipple between my teeth, he moaned loud enough to wake the neighbors. I continued my journey down Iori's torso, stopping for a moment to dip my tongue into his naval, earning a mix between a gasp and an 'eep' of embarrassment, before I came to the waste of his jeans. When I placed my hands on his waist, to unbutton his jeans, however, Iori stopped me. Automatically I assumed that I had started to cross a boundary he wasn't prepared for, and started to apologize. Iori corrected me and said that wasn't the case at all, but my shirt was still on, and he was feeling like he wasn't contribution enough. In response, I stripped of my shirt and tossed it aside. I couldn't help the heat rising to my cheeks as he engulfed the sight of me, as I had done only minutes prior. Iori started to rise up into my chest, but I met him halfway and pressed him back down. In between tender, loving kisses, I whispered that there would be time for me later, and that I was enjoying doing just what I was. I told him about the orchestra I was directing from his body, and how each sound he made drove me wild. And with that, he let me continue downward, but when I got to his waist again, I paused, looking back up at him.

"Are you sure you're ready, Iori. Don't be afraid to tell me I'm going too fast. I want you to enjoy this completely. And that means when you're ready."

"I'm a little nervous," Iori admitted, "but I am ready, Takeru. It's a little scary because no one's ever touched me there before, but I know you wouldn't ever do anything to hurt me. And everything so far has felt so good that the excitement outweighs the nervousness, I think."

"Just know that if it gets weird or starts to make you uncomfortable, don't be afraid to stop me. I won't be mad, I promise. Okay?" I waited for Iori to nod in agreement before I unbuttoned and removed his pants. He was wearing a pair of deep green boxers that matched his eyes, and blushed when I commented that I thought it was adorable. His small erection was peeking out of the fly of his boxers, and as soon as I saw it, a deep hunger engulfed me. I watched his face as I slid his boxers down and off; he had his eyes closed until they were completely off his body. When he opened his eyes, he traced my gaze and, instinctively, went to cover himself, but stopped when I shook my head. He placed his arms back down to the side of him and watched my face as I hungrily devoured his naked flesh with my eyes. His body was absolutely flawless. It was a delicate, fragile white landscape, with small hills and supple vallys, and I was the first to break ground in this virgin soil. My mind went cloudy with the idea that I actually had this gentle, beautiful boy naked in my bed. I lowered my fact down, in-between Iori's legs and blew a very light breath up his right thigh, and back down the left, leaving his twitching cock achingly untouched, causing Iori to whimper quietly. The soft skin of his inner thighs shivered under the graze of my fingers as I ran my hands up his legs and to his hips. He gently reached down and took of my hands in his, and in a move that surprised me immensely, he effectively stopped my teasing by shoving my hand down, and wrapping it around himself. Even at the slight touch, Iori moaned and wriggled under me. He moved his hands away from mine, and laid them down back on the bed. When I began to slowly slide my hand up and down Iori's member, he wrenched his hands into the sheets. I knew he'd never been touched like this, but seeing his thrash about under me made me realize how sensitive this boy really was.

I looked Iori in the eyes as I moved my head lowered my head to lick the tip of his cock; he scrunched his adorable face in the newfound pleasure. Ecstasy overcame Iory when I took all of his young member, and he cried out loudly into the empty apartment. Iori roughly tangled his hands in my hair, and held my head still at the base of his shaft, getting used to the new, warm, wet surroundings. I thought he was going to cum right then, but after a moment he released my head. I began anew fondling Iori with my tongue, tanking all of him into my mouth, and sucking gently on the tip as my head moved upwards. It wasn't long before Iori was thrashing about on the bed, uncontrollably, and I knew he was close. I looked up to see him looking down at my head, and when we made eye contact, he lost it. His hands gripped the sheets so hard I thought he may tears them, and his body jerked coarsely before he arched his back. His first orgasm rocked his young body into a euphoric spasm and my name could be heard throughout my floor of the apartment. I kept him in my mouth until he relaxed his body again and let out a deep,satisfied sigh, as if he released a breath he was unintentionally holding in.

Iori reached out, silently asking for my hand. I gave it to him, and he slowly guided me up to lie next to him. He rested his head on my shoulder and looked up into my eyes, once more.

"Takeru...that..that." He struggled to find the wording appropriate for what he felt, but came up short. With a smile and a yawm he settled and exclaimed, "That felt really good. But what about you?"

I returned the smile down at him and told him there wasn't a thing in the world that could make me feel any better at that moment. And I told him there would always be other times. I started to speak again, but noticed that his eyes began to droop, and his head suddenly looked like it weighed too much for his slender body. Instead, I reached down and lifted his chin up; his eyes were almost fully closed, but I knew that he was looking at me. I craned my neck down and planted a soft, long kiss on Iori's lips, and guided his head back to lay on my shoulder again. I watched him for a couple of minutes until his breathing became deep, and regular, and I knew he was asleep. The light was going to have to burn all night, because there was no way in hell that I was going to wake the gentle, beautiful boy beside me.

"Good night, Iori. I love you."


End file.
